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Glite Dictionary
silversword

silversword

1 9.9
A rare low-growing plant with narrow silvery-green leaves found only in Hawaiian volcanic craters
  • noun
  • /ˈsɪlvərˌsɔrd/
  • US
translation icon : silversword
  • The silversword is a rare plant that thrives in the volcanic craters of Hawaii.
  • Hawaiian silversword

Examples

  • Iliau belongs to the aster, or sunflower, family and is closely related to the equally strange-looking, but better-known, silverswords, which grow on Maui.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Friday that nationwide funding of more than $10 million in research grants will include a project on Maui to study the Haleakala silverswords.

    Blog text (8)

  • Tie - Silversword, S. B.

    Academic text (2004)

  • One of the five will be a study of Haleakala's silverswords.

    Blog text (8)

  • The Haleakala silverswords research grant is part of a Pacific regional partnership that will receive federal grants amounting to $1,268,481.

    Blog text (8)

  • Visitors to Haleakala National Park are often amazed by the beauty of the silversword in bloom.

  • The silversword, known for its striking red-purple flowers, grows only in specific elevations of Hawaii.

Synonyms

Argyroxiphium sandwicense
vssilversword
  • Specialized
9.9

A rare Hawaiian plant with low round groups of silvery green leaves and tall stems of red-purple flowers

is the everyday common name for the same rare Hawaiian crater plant

Surface Forms

silversword singular
silverswords plural

Morphology

silversword = silver + sword (transparent) = silver + sword

The compound clearly names the plant for its silvery colour and sword-shaped leaves, a meaning easily derived from 'silver' + 'sword'.

Etymology

The word silversword is made from silver and sword, so it literally means 'silver sword'. The plant's long, pointed, shiny leaves look like a silver sword, so the name helps you remember this rare Hawaiian plant found on volcanic slopes.